Women This Week: Sexual Violence in India

People hold placards at a protest against the rape of an eight-year-old girl in Kathua, in Ahmedabad, India.
REUTERS/Amit Dave

Welcome to “Women Around the World: This Week,” a series that highlights noteworthy news related to women and U.S. foreign policy. This week’s post, covering April 13 to April 23, was compiled with support from Alexandra Bro, Rebecca Hughes, and Rebecca Turkington.

Last week, the U.S. House of Representatives' Foreign Affairs Committee passed legislation co-sponsored by Committee Chairman Ed Royce (R-CA) and Rep. Lois Frankel (D-FL) to advance women’s economic empowerment around the world. The bill—titled the Women’s Entrepreneurship and Economic Empowerment Act—seeks to address barriers to economic growth and support women-led enterprises, including by promoting women’s entrepreneurship, financial inclusion, and land rights, and addressing discriminatory laws. Chairman Royce stressed the economic potential of bill, noting that “addressing the barriers to women’s economic participation and opportunities . . . could add trillions to the global economy.” The bill addresses the multitude of barriers to women’s economic participation globally: a recent World Bank report found that over one hundred economies still have laws that prevent women from working in specific jobs, affecting close to 2.75 billion women worldwide.